County ranking

Best places to live in Greater Manchester

30 towns ranked by overall liveability score, from official UK data.

30 Towns listed of 80 that qualify
74 Top score Old Trafford
64.5 County median UK median 54
40 Above 65 roughly the UK top eighth

This ranking covers the 80 Greater Manchester towns above 3,000 people that we can score in at least 8 of 9 categories, with the best 30 listed. There is nothing to choose between the top two: Old Trafford and Stockport both score 74/100. 40 towns clear 65/100, a mark roughly one in eight UK towns this size reaches: Old Trafford (74), Stockport (74) and Bramhall (73), among others.

Median score across the 80 towns we rank here is 64.5/100, 10.5 points above the 54/100 that UK towns this size typically manage. The top five span £230,000 in Reddish to £525,000 in Bramhall on median house price. From top to bottom of this table there are eight points: 74 at the head, 66 at the foot. Category-by-category detail is on the pages for Old Trafford, Stockport and Bramhall.

The top 30 places to live in Greater Manchester, ranked by overall score out of 100
# Town Score Strongest categories Population Median price
1 Old Trafford 74 Healthcare 91 Transport 92 22,618 £300,000
2 Stockport 74 Lifestyle 97 Transport 88 116,213 £275,000
3 Bramhall 73 Lifestyle 91 Healthcare 76 17,543 £525,000
4 Gatley 73 Healthcare 81 Lifestyle 83 9,576 £420,000
5 Reddish 73 Lifestyle 92 Transport 88 22,134 £230,000
6 Stretford 73 Transport 84 Lifestyle 84 25,417 £290,000
7 Altrincham 72 Healthcare 87 Transport 77 50,798 £401,250
8 Cheadle (Stockport) 72 Lifestyle 95 Schools 82 14,702 £320,000
9 Hazel Grove 72 Lifestyle 92 Healthcare 81 20,117 £315,200
10 Urmston 72 Healthcare 76 Transport 79 41,064 £350,000
11 Cheadle Hulme 71 Lifestyle 90 Schools 79 24,117 £436,250
12 Sale 71 Healthcare 78 Schools 80 62,302 £387,125
13 Bredbury and Woodley 70 Lifestyle 91 Healthcare 79 16,663 £258,500
14 Chadderton 70 Lifestyle 99 Healthcare 90 38,642 £215,000
15 Lees 70 Lifestyle 96 Healthcare 79 13,147 £234,000
16 Eccles (Salford) 69 Healthcare 81 Transport 81 42,057 £234,000
17 Bolton (Bolton) 68 Healthcare 92 Transport 84 187,829 £203,750
18 Failsworth 68 Lifestyle 96 Schools 89 19,748 £215,000
19 Oldham 68 Lifestyle 99 Healthcare 91 106,405 £178,000
20 Tyldesley 68 Healthcare 81 Schools 71 16,330 £260,000
21 Walkden 68 Healthcare 81 Schools 78 16,339 £265,000
22 Bowdon 67 Healthcare 76 Schools 69 5,552 £630,000
23 Droylsden 67 Transport 87 Schools 88 24,117 £220,000
24 Dukinfield 67 Transport 94 Healthcare 89 21,076 £209,250
25 Kearsley 67 Schools 81 Transport 78 11,120 £180,000
26 Manchester 67 Healthcare 93 Transport 94 428,605 £257,625
27 Atherton 66 Healthcare 79 Transport 78 27,136 £192,000
28 Audenshaw 66 Healthcare 85 Transport 88 13,129 £214,550
29 Denton (Tameside) 66 Transport 88 Healthcare 80 36,367 £215,500
30 Farnworth 66 Healthcare 85 Transport 88 28,883 £180,000

Ranked on the default weighting, out of 100. Strongest categories are the two furthest above the national median for that category, not simply the two highest numbers. Almost every town scores well on safety, so raw highs would say little.

Find your own best place in Greater Manchester

The ranking above uses one weighting. Change any control below to re-rank all 80 qualifying towns around what you actually care about — who's moving, a minimum on one category, a price ceiling for the type of home you'd buy.

Pick a persona or set a filter to re-rank 80 towns in place.

Also in Greater Manchester, below the top 30: PrestwichRomileyRoytonSalfordWhitefieldAshton-under-LyneInce-in-MakerfieldLeigh (Wigan)
42 moreShow fewerMiddleton (Rochdale)WiganLittle LeverBury (Bury)RadcliffeAstleyMarpleStalybridgeSwinton (Salford)Clifton (Salford)Hale (Trafford)HindleyHyde (Tameside)Little HultonRochdaleShaw (Oldham)WesthoughtonWythenshaweAppley BridgeAshton-in-MakerfieldGolborneMilnrowWorsleyMarple BridgePartingtonPlatt Bridge and AbramMossleyHattersleyOrrellRhodesStandishHeywoodHigh LaneRamsbottomBlackrodShevington MoorUppermillAspullLittleboroughHorwichShevingtonIrlam

How this ranking was built

Every settlement in Greater Manchester was scored across 9 categories (safety, schools, healthcare, transport, environment, broadband, lifestyle, economic health and bills) from official sources including Police UK, Ofsted, the CQC, Ofcom, the Environment Agency and MHCLG. Two filters then decide who appears here:

Counties are ceremonial, and a town belongs to the county its postcodes physically sit in, so border towns land where residents would expect them to.

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